Machine for marking enameled ware



Juhe 30, 1925. 1 544 135 E. s. DENK MACHINE FOR MARKING ENAMELED WARE Filed Aug. 1, 9 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 4/ 1 10 June 30, 1925.

E. s. DENK MACHINE FOR MARKING ENAMELED WARE 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1921 Patented June 30, 1925.

EMIL s. DENK, or SI. Louis, MISSQURI.

MACHINE FOR MARKING ENAlVIELED Application filed August 1, 1921. Serial No. 489,104.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'I, EMIL .S. DENK, a citizen of Hungary, having filed my intention of becoming a citizen ofthe United States, and residing in the-city of St. Louis,

State of Missouri, have invented the new and useful Improvement in Machines for Marking Enameled are, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesto machines for marking enamel wareand more particularly to mechanism for marking such ware by means of a printing plate or die.

This apparatus is designed more particularly for carrying out the method of marking enamel ware described in myapplication of even date herewith and bearing Serial Number 189,103. Said application describes anovel method for marking. enamel ware in which the mark to be applied is printed upon the ware with a suitable varnish so as to leave an impression of tacky material on the surface of the ware. Enamel in powdered form and preferably of a different color from the surface of the ware is then dusted on so that thexpowder will adhere to the 'tacky portions of the surface and not to the other portions. As the tacky material is completely absorbed and dried by the enamel which adheres to it, subsequent impressions of varnish can be made without injuring the first or preceding impressions, and enamel of dilferent colors may be applied after each impression. As is pointed out in the above mentioned applicatiom'successive impressions may overlap each other to any desired extent.

On those portions of. the ware surface to which a plurality of different colored enamels have been applied, the resulting color on the finished ware will .be a combiation or blend of all the colors so apnlied.

One of the objects ofthis invention is to provide means for impressing upon the uneven surface of the enamel ware, a mark in the form of an'impi'ession in tacky material for the purpose of carrying out the above mentioned process.

Another object of this invention is to provide novel mechanism whereby such an impression can be madein a simple and expeditious manner. I

Further objects will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows aside elevation of the mechanism for operating the printing drum upon which the printing die is mounted;

Figure 2 shows the relation between the drum and the coating rollers, being a section on line 22 of Figure 8;

Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section showing one method of making the printing die; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing a printing die embodying this invention in another form.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 designates a table or bed upon which the ware, which in thiscase isillustrated as a blank for an enamelsign, may be mounted. This table is mounted on supports 2 which may, if desired, be mounted for vertical adjustment in any of a number of ways well known in the art. Mounted upon side brackets 3 adjacent the table 1 and between which said table is adapted to rise and fall, is a pair of rails 1, each being equipped on the inner portion of its upper side with a 'rack 5, and uponthe outer portion with a smooth rail surface 6.

Mounted to roll upon the rail portion 6, by means of a set of rollers 7, is a carriage comprising a pair of horizontal members 8 carried upon the rollers 7, and a pair of upright members 9 carried upon the members 8, and joined at their top by a cross member 10. J ournaled in the members 9 is a shaft 11, which carries the printing drum 12. Also mounted on the shaft 11 and fixed at each. end to the drum 1-2, is a pair of'gears 13 meshing with the rack 5 so that when the carriage is moved in either direction along the rail 6, the engagement of the gear 13 with the rack 5 will cause the drum 12 to turn in a corresponding direction. A pair of handles 1 1 is provided for moving the carriage.

Mounted on the upright members 9 are two pairs of horizontal brackets 15. The end of each bracket 15 is provided with a horizontal slot 16 in which is mounted for movement a block 17 having grooves 18 adapted to engage the sides ofthe slot 16 and to slide thereon. A spring 19 is mounted between each block 17 and the bottom of the corresponding slot 16, and tendsto force said block outwardly of the groove. 'Aplate 20 is lined tothe bracket 15 by'means of screws 21 so as to close the end of the slot 16 and carries an adjusting screw 22'ad'apted to limit the movement of the block 17. Journaled in each pair of blocks 17 is a shaft 23 carrying a coating roller 24 preferably of unyielding material, such as metal.

The brackets 15 are each provided with a second vertical slot- 25 in which is mounted a block 26 forced upwardly by a spring 27 and limited in movement by an adjusting screw 23, the construction being similar to that described for the block 17 y In each pair of blocks 26 is journaled a shaft 29 carrying a distributing roller 30 preferably of glutinousmaterial such as the composition used by printers for inking rollers of printing presses. The roller 30 is adapted to apply a yielding pressure to the roller 24-.

Mounted on the brackets 15 in any'suitable manner and underneath the rollers 2st, are a pair of wells or fountains 31 adapted to hold a supply of the varnish with which the printing die is coated.

The )rintin die constructed as hereinafter described, ismounted in any suitable manner upon the drum 12 as shown at 32 in Figure 2.

Two coating devices are, therefore, provided each consisting of a coating roller 2-9:, a distributing roller 30 and the necessary fountain 31. One of these is mounted on each side of the drum so that the die may be properly coated in each direction of movement of the carriage. In order, however, that only one of the coating rollers 24'may engage the die before printing,n1echanism is provided for engaging one of said rollers and disengaging the other in each di-- rection of movement of thecarriage, oppo site rollers beiu brought into engagement for opposite directions of travel. For this purpose, each pair of brackets 15 has pivoted thereto at 40, a pair of arms ll each carrying at its lower end a pinion 42 engaging the rack 5. Pivoted to each arm all at -13 is a link n connected at its other end with the shaft 23. The bearing of the pinion 42 is tight enoughso that said pinion turns with so ne ditliculty in order that when the carriage is moved in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1, the arms ii, on the left of the carriage Figure 1, will be forced in to ward the carriage so that by means of the link l l the shaft 23 will be drawn inwardly against the tension of the spring 19 and the roller 2% will thereby be brought into a position to engage the die 32. At the same time, the arms 41 on the right of Figure 1 will be forced outwardly from the carriage with the result that the roller 2 1 on that sidewill be moved to aposition to disengage the die 32. In this way the printing operation can be carried on in either direction of movement of the carriage and in so doing the die will receive only one application of varnish.

In order that a uniform and clear cut impression of the mark to be applied to the ware may be made upon the uneven surface of the ware, a yielding die is desired. In practice, it has been found that a die of glutinous material such as the composition used for inking rollers mentioned above is most suitable for this purpose and may be constructed as illustrated in Figure 4. In this figure, 33 represents a box or container of any suitable construction, the bottom of which is covered with a uniform layer of glazers putty 34:. In this putty an impression is made of the mark to be applied to the ware by means of type, zinc etching, cuts or the like, so as to leave therein a matrix having the form of the mark to be applied. Into this matrix, the hotcomposition is poured which will enter and till all the interstices thereof. The composition is poured into a level sutlicient to produce a die of the proper height after which it is allowed to cool and solidify. Just before solidification, astrip of fabric 36 may be laid upon the back of the die so to adhere thereto. Such a backing of fabric facilitates handling and" fastening to the printing drum.

Theabove method is best suited for re producing cuts and the like and lettering in large faced type. here lettering in small faced type is required, it may be cheaper and more convenient to construct the die illustrated in Figure 5. In this arrangement rubber type 37 such as are ordinarily used for rubber stamps and the like, may be prepared in the same way as for a rubber stamp, the type 37 being mounted upon a thin sheet of rubber 38. This is then suitably .mounted in the box 33 and the com position and the backing 36 applied as above described. This form of die has given good results in practice as it provides a semi-elastic die in the form of the rubber type with a support or backing of the more yielding glutinous composition.

In practice the, die, constructed either as shown in Figure at or as shown in Figure 5, is mounted upon the drum 12 as shown in Figure 2. The ware to be marked, illustratedintl1is case as an enamel sign, may be mounted upon the table 1 in any suitable manner as indicated at 45. The coating varnish is supplied to the fountain 31 and the roller 30 is adjusted so as to bear upon,

the roller 24 with-sufficient pressure to thin out the coating ofvarnish applied to the die to thedesired point. The handle 14 is then grasped and the carriage pushed forward say in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, "in which case the drum 12 will be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2 so as to move past the roller 24:, which being unyielding and the die .32 yielding, a uniform coating of varnish will be applied to the die. The die will then move downwardly as the carriage moves forward so as to engage the ware 4.5 and leave thereon a uniform coating of varnish in the form of the mark to be ap plied. The piece of the ware operated upon may then be removed from the table and a new piece laid in its place after which the printing operation may be repeated by moving the carriage in the reverse direction in which case the coating device just in use will be disengaged and that on the opposite side of the carriage engaged so that the coating of the die and the application of the impression upon the ware will be carried out in proper sequence as before.

It will be seen that the invention accomplishes its objects. A die is provided by means of which a uniform impression of the mark may be made upon the ware in spite of the uneven surface which is usually encountered in such ware. Mechanism is also provided for making such an impression with facility. In fact with this machine enamel signs can be printed with great rapidity. The drum being covered with dies, the table may be covered. with corresponding pieces of ware properly located each to engage its own die and all may be printed at one stroke of the carriage after which a new set of pieces may be put upon the table and the operation repeated by a simple reverse stroke of the carriage. The coating devices are such that by adjusting the pressure between the rollers, a coating of any desired thickness may be applied to the die and to the ware.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of construction with out departing from the spirit of this invention; it is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and. described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a drum mounted above said bed, an elastic die on said drum, an unyielding coating roller mounted above said bed and laterally of said drum, a fountain in which said roller runs, an elastic distributing roller mounted above and engaging said coating roller, and means for moving said drum to first engage said die with said coating roller and thereafter engage said die with the ware on said bed.

2. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware,

a drum mounted above said bed, an elastic die on said drum, an unyielding coating roller mounted above said bed and laterally of said drum, a fountain in; which said roller runs, an elastic distributing roller mounted above and engaging said coating roller, means for moving said drum to first engage said die with said coating roller and thereafter engage said die with the ware on said bed, and means operating upon reverse movement of said drum adapted to move said coating roller away from said die.

3. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a drum mounted above said bed, an elastic die on said drum, coating and distributing rollers on opposite sides of said drum, and means for moving said drum to first engage said die with a coating roller and thereafter engage said die with the ware on said bed.

4. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a drum mounted above said bed, an elastic die on said drum, coating and distributing rollers on opposite sides of said drum, and means for selectively moving one of said coating rollers out of and the other into engaging position, and means for moving said drum to first engage said die with said coating roller and thereafter engage said die with the ware on said bed.

5. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a drum mounted above said bed, coating devices above said bed upon opposite sides of said drum, a yielding die on said drum, and means operating upon movement of said drum in one direction adapted to engage said die with one of said devices and. thereafter engage said die with the ware on said bed and adapted to move the other coating device away from said die.

6. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a die having the form of the mark, a movable carriage for said die, a pair of coating devices each adapted to coat said die with marking material, and mechanism adapted upon movement of said carriage in one direction to move one of said devices into engagement with said die, and upon movement of said carriage in the opposite direction to move the other of said devices into engagement with said die.

7. A machine for marking enamel ware, comprising, a bed adapted to hold the ware, a die having the form of the mark, a movable carriage for said die, a pair of coating devices each adapted to 'coat said die with marking material, and mechanism adapted upon movement of said carriage in one direction to move one of said devices into, and the other out of engagement with said die, and upon movement of said carriage in the opposite direction to move said first vdevice out of, and said secfor selectively moving said devices into enond device into engagement With said die. gagement with said die inaccordance With 8. In a machine for marking enamel the movement of saidcarriage. 10 Ware, a die having the form of the mark, a In testimony whereof I afi ix my signature movable carriage for said die, a pair of coatthis 21st day of October, 1920.

ing devices each adapted to coat said die I V with the marking material, and mechanism V EMIL S. DENK. 

